Car-fender.



PATENTED JULY 12, 1904.

W. H. REEOB. CAR FENDER. lAPPLwA'rIoxsw FILED Dwi, 190s.

N0 MODI-1L..

INYENTOR v BY lcgchmfk MOSQAWYMM No. 7'65,o41.

UNITED STATES Patented July 12, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 765,041, dated July 12, 1904. Application filed December l, l903. Serial No. 183,422. (No model.)

To all 1071/0711, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Rnncn, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Fenders, of which the following is a specification containing' a full, clear, and exact description,ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in carfenders; and it consists of the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter shown, described, and claimed.

The object of my invention is to provide a combined fender and cushion which shall soften the blow struck by the car and which shall also piek up the body of the person.

Most fenders heretofore in use in striking a body first throw the body to the ground and then endeavor to pick it up from the ground, and in the case of other fenders the head of the person struck is badly bruised and injured by contact with the front of the car with such force as to nearly always kill the person in collision. Insuch fenders a body can very seldom be picked up from the track after it has been thrown down.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional front view of a portion of a car and railway-track with my fender in position upon the car. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

1 indicates the usual car-dash supported by the car-platform 2. An important part of my invention resides in the apron 3, which acts as a cushion and is placed in front of the dash 1 to receive the impact of the body of a person in collision with the ear. Said apron is preferably made, as shown, of vertical slats attached at their ends to curved transverse bars 4. Said slats may of course be composed of metal instead of wood, or they may be displaced by a sheet of woven wire secured to said bars 4L. Said apron 3 is preferably, as shown, in the form of a common cow-catcher or pilot, in which the same slopes rearwardly and is rather pointed in front. Said apron is pivotally suspended at its upper end by means of ears 5, which are engaged by a hinge-pin 6, and said hinge-pin is supported by means of two arms 7 7 projecting from the top of the fender-frame 8. The upper portion of the arms 7 is detachably secured to the dash 1 by means of a bracket 8a, which is riveted to the front of said dash,near the upper edge thereof, and behind which the said hinge-pin 6 is placed when the fender is in position for use. The said fender-frame is preferably curved transversely to correspond with the usual curvature of the dash 1 and is further supported by additional brackets 9, riveted to the said dash at a point below the plane in which the first-mentioned bracket is fixed. Said fenderframe 8 is provided at each side of the earplatform with a horizontal forwardly-projecting integral arm 10, and each arm has an integral vertical guide-arm 11 projecting beneath the same and terminating a short distance above the rails.

Mounted to slide up and down on the said guide-arms l1 is a pilot 12, which may be made of wood or metal, but which has its front curved or pointed, as pilots usually are. Said guide-arms 11 preferably project through apertures formed in some portion of the said pilot, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

13 indicates what I terni a cradle, which is also preferably made of slats and rectangular in form, but curved upwardly so as to present a hollow or rounded upper face for the reception of the body in collision. Said cradle is pivotally mounted upon the front ends of the horizontal arms 1() of the fenderframe by means of a rod llhextending through perforations formed in ears of the slats composing said cradle and also extending through perfor-ations in the said arms 10. The front end of said cradle is preferably provided with wheels or rollers 15 for resting upon the rails of the track when the front edge of the cradle is lowered. Then the front end of said cradle is depressed, its rear end moves upwardly a corresponding' distance, and vice versa.

The pilot 12 is suspended from the rear portion of the cradle by means of links 16, so that when said cradle is rocked the said pilot will be elevated and depressed, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. There is also a pivotal connection between the apron 3 and the rear edge of the cradle, and this connection is in the form of two links 17, which connect the IOO rear edge of said cradle with an intermediate cross-bar 18 of the said apron 3, so that when the lower end of the apron is moved inwardly or outwardly the cradle will be rocked and the pilot will be elevated a corresponding distance. It will thus be seen that the three principal parts of my device are pivotally connected and moved in unison.

19 indicates ,the usual draw-bar of the car and which projects forwardly into the space between the lower edge of the apron 3 and the rear edge of the cradle 13.

The operation is as follows: The normal position of the parts is that in which they are shown in full lines in Fig. 2. When the apron 3 strikes aperson, the said apron will be immediately pressed rearwardly to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and such movement of said apron will also depress the rear end of the cradle 18 by means of the links 17, and said movement will also depress the pilot 12 by means of its links 16. Such movement will cause the front end of the cradle to be thrown upwardly, as indicated by dotted lines, and the body of the person will be thereby caught Within said cradle and prevented from falling upon the rails. However, should the body accidentally pass beneath the said cradle it would be prevented from passing beneath the car-wheels by the pilot 12, which, as previously stated, will be depressed by the upward movement of the said cradle, as shown in dotted lines.

Should a person be struck while lying on the track, the front edge of the cradle will then be elevated, as described, and the pilot 12 will be dropped as before, and thus prevent the person from being run over by the car-wheels.

The fender and all of its parts can be made entirely independent of the car and can be easily slipped on or taken oli' whenever desired. It

does not interfere with using acoupling-rod in case one c ar has to pull or push another car.

My fender can of course be applied to other vehicles, such as automobiles.

I do not limit myself to the exact details ,of construction herein shown and described, as the same may be varied by skilled workmen without departing from the scope of my invention. l

I claim- 1. rIhe improved vehicle-fender, comprising three separate parts pivotally connected to move in unison, to wit-an apron pivoted approximately at its upper edge, a cradle pivoted beneath said apron, and a pilot mounted below said cradle, substantially as described.

2. The improved vehicle-fender, comprising three separate parts pivotally connected to move in unison, to wit-an apron pivoted approximately at its upper edge, a cradle pivoted beneath said apron, a pilot mounted below said cradle, and links connecting said movable parts, substantially as described.

3. The improved vehicle-fender, comprising three separate parts pivotally connected to move in unison, to witan apron pivoted approximately at its upper edge, a cradle pivoted beneath said apron, a pilot mounted below said cradle, links connecting said movable parts, a fender-frame upon which said parts are mounted, and brackets for detachably supporting said frame upon the car, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

wiLLiAM H. Runen.

, l/Vitnesses:

ALFRED A. EIcKs, M. Gr. IRION. 

